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AbstractUnemployment, particularly graduate unemployment, brings a huge impact on the community. Thus, the fundamental purpose of the study was to examine the socioeconomic challenges of graduate unemployment in the community. To do this, descriptive research with a cross-sectional design was used to reckon the socioeconomic challenges of graduate unemployment in the community, and a mixed research approach was employed. Accordingly, 279 survey respondents, 6 unemployed graduates, 5 parents of job seekers for the interview, six discussants, and 3 key informants were selected by employed stratified, simple random, and purposive sampling methods. The data which are obtained from survey questionnaires were analyzed through descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed by narration and thematic. Hereof, the findings depict that families of jobseekers and their community members have faced economic and social-related troubles. Thus, it brings economic bankruptcy, family strain, menanced for social security, and young students have low interest in education because of the presence of graduate unemployment.

A landslide is one of the geological hazards that cause the most disaster in densely populated areas. The landslide that occurred in Gezie Gofa woreda, Gofa Zone, Kencho Shacha Gozdi village, killed more than 250 people. Two landslides occurred on July 22, 2024, at 8:30 and 10:40 AM The first landslide killed six people and demolished three houses. The second landslide killed more than 245 people, including those who came to the site to excavate the buried bodies during the first landslide. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the landslide causative factors, model the landslide susceptibility, and characterize the landslide disaster on socioeconomic effects that occurred on July 22, 2024. The landslide inventory data, field surveys, laboratory analyses, and various geophysical surveys characterized the current and past landslides of the area. The landslide susceptibility model was modeled using a statistical approach in the GIS. environment. The socioeconomic effects were assessed using field surveys and systematic interviews with the victims. The conditioning factors selected for landslide susceptibility modeling are lithology, geological structures, groundwater, slope, land use or land cover, aspect, curvature, and elevation. The major triggering factor of the landslide in the area was heavy rainfall, which occurred on July 21–22, 2024, between 3:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. The results reveal that the significant conditioning factors of the landslide in the study area are geological structures (both visible and inferred), groundwater, slopes, and human activities. The characterized socioeconomic effects include the destruction of agricultural land, the demolishing of houses, and the loss of human lives, as well as several people evacuated and sheltered under tents and churches. However, the most momentous disaster in the area is the loss of human life. Based on the research results, it would be better to relocate those people living in the high landslide susceptible zones, and all high landslide-prone areas and mountainous terrain in southern Ethiopia should be mapped, and the people should be aware of the landslide risk areas.

The aim of this study is to scientifically substantiate an integrated methodology for assessing the socioeconomic efficiency of integrated investment projects (IIP) based on the principles of sustainable development and international approaches to assessment with a case study of IIP for creating innovative infrastructure in the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) of Russia. The object of the study is complex investment projects for the development of innovative infrastructure, implemented in the FEFD. The subject of the study is a set of forecast socioeconomic effects and consequences of implementing the IIP for the development of innovation infrastructure in the FEFD. The article discusses the main directions and instruments of state policy to support IIP in the FEFD, as well as approaches to evaluating such projects. The features and problems of methodological support for assessing the social (economic) efficiency of IIP are revealed. The scientific novelty of the research is the following: existing domestic and foreign methodological approaches to achieving the goal set in it were adapted, the corresponding tools were modified, and experimental calculations were performed with a case study of the project of the Russky innovative scientific and technological center, making it possible to obtain quantitative estimates of the social effectiveness of the project in the context of types of generated effects. The results of the study will make it possible to improve the validity of decisions on implementing budget investments and provision of state support measures for individual projects; they will form a systemic basis for prioritizing a portfolio of existing and future projects (reorienting state support to projects with maximum social impact) and will contribute to improving the structure of initiated projects in favor of more socially effective options for their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are considered bagong bayani, or modern-day heroes, as their remittances have a positive long-term impact on the Philippines economy. The Philippines ranked 10th worldwide in terms of net emigration from 2010 to 2020. The deployment of OFWs declined during the pandemic, and this was estimated to have adverse effects on remittances. As a migrant-sending country, the Philippine government had to deal with the mass of unemployed OFWs stranded in their host countries and organize large-scale repatriation of OFWs. This scoping review aims to assess the existing literature, identify research gaps, and propose future research directions concerning the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on OFWs and their left-behind families. The results indicate that the impact of the pandemic on OFWs was not uniform. It is evident that OFWs in precarious situations beforehand have become even more vulnerable. The loss of their source of income in the host country and the restrictions on international mobility during the pandemic had significant detrimental effects on their wellbeing and their families left behind, regardless of their income level or type of job. Upon returning to their home country, they often experienced anxiety, depression, discrimination, and difficulty in finding a job. Overall, this scoping review highlights the urgent need for greater recognition and protection of OFWs in times of crisis. It is crucial to address the systemic issues that contribute to their vulnerability and to ensure that they receive adequate support and protection in host countries and the Philippines.

The present study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of program expansion of an afterschool Nutrition and Culinary Education Program with a 79% participation rate. A retrospective matched-pairs analysis was conducted on pre- and post-survey data of all five sites of 284 young participants (and their parents) who took part in a 10-week, 2-hour cooking and educational workshop. The results demonstrate that NCEP's are effective, producing significant positive change in diverse neighborhoods in areas of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around food. However, results varied among individual sites. Further study is needed to understand factors, which may influence outcomes between individual sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study's objective is to assess the socioeconomic effects of good governance practices in urban land management in two particular Ethiopian towns. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to achieve this objective. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to collect data, and the collected data were analyzed descriptively. According to the study's findings, the poor were hit particularly hard by weak governance in urban land management, since they could not afford to bribe authorities to acquire services or legal protection. Development was hampered by poor governance and corruption in the management of urban land, which raised business risks, decreased investment incentives, and restricted access to financing in the towns. Communities bribed officials to remove limits on land-use planning and to influence the decision to stop the implementation of environmental protection rules. Due to their unregistered land, the majority of suburban inhabitants did not pay property taxes. Similarly, since paying property taxes was seen as a necessary step in towns' regularization process, informal settlers were prohibited from doing so. As a result, residents in urban areas began to construct homes without registering their land and land rights. As a result, after being delimited to the towns, more landowners in peri-urban regions utilized their property for residential purposes and unlawful transactions, while fewer were using it for agricultural purposes. Consequently, due to poor governance in urban land management, land-related socioeconomic development was unable to be fostered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic activities that degrade natural ecosystems may also impact human health. However, research on the links between human and environmental health has most often been conducted at small scales (e.g. individual cities) and cannot easily be extrapolated to larger scales.We created a macrosystems ecology framework to identify associations between human and environmental health by combining human mortality and socioeconomic data for the conterminous United States with spatially aligned data on the physicochemical characteristics of river basins.Principal component analysis was first used to reduce a list of 596 environmental variables to a subset of 64 environmental covariates, representing six main environmental themes (climate, geology, hydrology, land use, river basin morphology and pollution). Independent, spatially aligned information was then obtained for 12 socioeconomic covariates.Random forest modelling was used to predict age‐adjusted mortality rate as a function of the environmental and socioeconomic covariates. An independent data subset (random 75:25 model building vs. testing split) was also used for model validation. The coefficient of determination between predicted and observed mortality rates was 0.76 for the validation data. Furthermore, model residuals (predicted − observed mortality) were centered near zero and normally distributed (1 SD = 62.26), suggesting high model accuracy and precision.Socioeconomic covariates were consistently the most influential predictors of mortality rate. Smoking, food insecurity, and lack of physical activity were particularly important. However, environmental covariates accounted for 5 of the 10 strongest predictors overall, with air temperature and precipitation being most influential among environmental variables.This proof‐of‐concept study demonstrates the utility of a modelling framework that combines environmental and human health data at macroscales. We suggest that further application of macrosystems ecology tools will improve the capacity to anticipate human health responses to ongoing environmental change. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following its outbreak in late 2019, the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been reported to have had devastating human health, health systems, and socioeconomic impacts across the globe. Countries in the Global South are known to have been hit harder given the low level of resilience to crises amid high levels of poverty and limited social protection programmes. This includes countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Most of the existing studies on the COVID-19 pandemic in SSA, however, have focused on the puzzling nature of the considerably low rate at which the virus spread over the continent, the low level of hospitalisation, and the corresponding low morbidity rate. As such, little focus has been given to the social and economic effects of the pandemic in the local communities. Carried out in two rural communities in Kenya—Kilifi and Murang'a—the present study adopts a case study approach for an in-depth, real-life context and explores the socioeconomic (including land-related) effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the vulnerable rural population and the social group of smallholder farmers. Outcomes of the study show that the local effects of the pandemic are context specific. The findings demonstrate that the pandemic has had far-reaching impact on access to and control over land for some households in the rural communities. It was also accompanied with other negative social and economic effects, including a notable rise in teenage pregnancy, intra-household conflicts, job losses, and businesses closures. Positively, it is also claimed to have contributed to food and nutrition security in some rural regions, following increased availability of nutritious food that could have, otherwise, been sold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Various restrictions due to the coronavirus infection have affected working life globally. People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) have several difficulties in social life, patient follow-up, and receiving treatments. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the experiences of pwMS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We developed a 50-question survey aiming to determine fears, anxieties, and the problems experienced by patients regarding their diseases and social lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire was released online via the Turkish MS Society website, local MS societies websites, and social media accounts. Only the answers of the patients who filled out the questionnaire completely were evaluated. Results: In total, 6008 patients took the survey, and 3255 of them completed the questionnaire. Among all, 378 patients (11.6%) were positive for COVID-19. The most common COVID-19-related symptom was fatigue (48.4%). The routine medical follow-up was interrupted in 61.4% and the medication was discontinued in 14% of the patients. Approximately 25% of the patients reported different symptoms related to relapse activity. The main concern of the patients related to the COVID-19 pandemic was the disruption of the health of the ones they loved. Among all the patients, 4.4% lost their jobs. Conclusion: Our data showed that the COVID-19 pandemic strongly affected the working lives of pwMS. Also, the pandemic changed the attitudes of patients and neurologists. Therefore, the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on disease approach, patient follow-up, social conditions, and working life should be monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-labeling program provides fisheries a pathway to demonstrate their sustainability by undergoing an environmental certification. Like other standard-setters, the MSC’s ‘theory of change’ presumes that markets use this information to select for sustainable products, providing an incentive for producers to improve their practices and become certified. However, the underlying mechanisms which actually work to link market behavior and participation in the program in different contexts have not been systematically identified. We draw on broad MSC field experience to identify processes that have supported the theory of change in individual fisheries. Then, we develop a broadly applicable rapid assessment protocol, relying on a semi-structured interviews of key informants, to gather systematic evidence for key dynamics within the theory of change: the effects of going through MSC certification on market processes, partnerships in the fishery, and governance. In a pilot test of the protocol, we identify important common and idiosyncratic processes in three canned product fisheries: United States west coast albacore tuna, Brittany sardines, and Portuguese sardines. We find that the harvesters and buyers/processors in these fisheries sought certification primarily to expand or maintain their market share, and that certification was synergistic with stakeholder cooperation. The cases demonstrate how our rapid assessment interviews allow program participants to relate their experience in their own words yet facilitate systematic comparison to identify common mechanisms within the theory of change. We propose its wider application to systematically advance our understanding of social and economic processes that drive of eco-label interventions in different geographies and supply chains around the world.

This study’s objective is to assess the socioeconomic effects of good governance practices in urban land management in two particular Ethiopian towns. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed to achieve this objective. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to collect data, and the collected data were analyzed descriptively. According to the study’s findings, the poor were hit particularly hard by weak governance in urban land management, since they could not afford to bribe authorities to acquire services or legal protection. Development was hampered by poor governance and corruption in the management of urban land, which raised business risks, decreased investment incentives, and restricted access to financing in the towns. Communities bribed officials to remove limits on land-use planning and to influence the decision to stop the implementation of environmental protection rules. Due to their unregistered land, the majority of suburban inhabitants did not pay property taxes. Similarly, since paying property taxes was seen as a necessary step in towns’ regularization process, informal settlers were prohibited from doing so. As a result, residents in urban areas began to construct homes without registering their land and land rights. As a result, after being delimited to the towns, more landowners in peri-urban regions utilized their property for residential purposes and unlawful transactions, while fewer were using it for agricultural purposes. Consequently, due to poor governance in urban land management, land-related socioeconomic development was unable to be fostered.

The Thailand national lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic lasted for several months. Ko Yo is one of the tourist attractions in Songkhla province due to its unique culture, environment, and businesses. The lockdown has changed the local lifestyle together with its socioeconomic and environmental impacts. This study aimed to integrally investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 related societal responses on the coastal environment and activities and the adaptive capacity of businesses on Ko Yo Island in Songkhla province. The results showed negative impacts of the COVID-19 on restaurants, homestays, and aquaculture businesses due to the Governmental emergency decrees. Aquaculture was the most affected business. Despite the reduced number of customers and transportation problems, some restaurants and homestays have provided delivery services and fishing areas as novel services available to their customers. The decrease in coastal activities had positively affected some environmental parameters, e.g., total nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, and biochemical oxygen demand in water. In conclusion, businesses in Ko Yo were vulnerable to the disruption and the COVID-19 related situation. The local government organizations should seek to support the local communities, active businesses, and people in need to increase their adaptive capacities by providing financial support, organizing career development workshops, and coordinating and counseling local people. Short and long terms of emergency measures should be set at upper levels of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes reconstructed data on temperature, precipitation, and extreme drought events in the late fifteenth century in Northern China, as well as historical records on population migration, financial crises, military farms, and national decisions during the Ming dynasty. We specifically examine the socio-economic effects of extreme drought events, which led to long-term changes causing the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Our results indicate that the first Cold Valley and the frequent extreme drought events of the Little Ice Age in the late fifteenth century led to a sharp reduction in the military farm system. Extreme droughts caused a large-scale population migration in Northern China and led to the collapse of the tax payment and corvee systems. To cope with the extreme droughts, the local financial reserve was reduced by 51.3%. As a result, local finances became extremely tight. To alleviate fiscal pressures, the court was forced to change the socioeconomic model implemented in the beginning of the Ming dynasty to the corvee equalization method and silver coin tax collection method. These new measures resulted in a decline of the dynasty’s control over households, to the abandonment of military farms, and to reduced control over the country’s social risks. This article explains the mechanism through which climate events led to the collapse of the Ming dynasty. We specifically explore the relationship between socioeconomic transformation and extreme drought in the late fifteenth century in order to better understand the relationship between climate change and social response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective is to assess the reasoning by families in deciding between a home vs. facility delivery and vaginal vs. caesarean. Study design: The authors selected a convenience sample of 16 villages in Sathkira district in southwest Bangladesh. Evidence was drawn from detailed in‐home post‐delivery interviews with all mothers in these villages who delivered in 2015 or 2016. Methods: Local family health workers and paramedics used a structured questionnaire that enabled gathering of relevant quantitative and qualitative evidence. Mothers' reasons for selection of delivery location and type were categorized, and regression analysis was conducted to assess significance of variables that proxy supply and demand factors. Results: Among 492 completed interviews, 48% were home deliveries, 52% facility deliveries; two‐thirds of facility deliveries in private clinics. Overall, sample caesarean rate is 39%, public hospital rate 53%, private clinic rate 86%. Over half of reasons for home delivery refer to pregnancy without complication or access to trusted birth attendant. Over half of reasons for facility delivery refer to medical complications allegedly precluding home delivery, or requiring home‐to‐facility transfer during labour for reasons not clear to the mother. The decision depends on both 'demand' factors originating with the family (proxied by family income, birth order and education levels) and 'supply' factors originating with obstetric care providers (proxied by number of antenatal visits and variation of caesarean rate by village). In a regression controlling for both demand and supply variables, the above proxy variables are all significant. Implications for nursing and health policy: Bangladesh has inadequate nursing support for vaginal delivery in either home or facility. Hence, physicians frequently recommend that women deliver in a facility (usually a physician's clinic). Physicians are reluctant to hire adequate nurses to attend vaginal deliveries. Hence, families with some discretionary income are increasingly opting for a caesarean over vaginal delivery. Facility deliveries reduce incidence of obstructed labour fistula, but probably contribute to rising incidence of iatrogenic fistula. Reducing caesarean rates requires a large increase in numbers of nurses and midwives, and acceptance by physicians of a broad scope of practice for nurses/midwives in vaginal deliveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Groundwater supplies fresh water for drinking and irrigation and sustains the health of ecosystems. Although the serious consequences caused by unsustainable depletion of groundwater have been widely reported, restricting pumping in exhausted aquifers requires identifying alternative water sources, determining how much water can be made accessible to avert the groundwater crisis and formulating water allocation regulations to achieve regional water sustainability. It is perceived that groundwater management needs integrated action considering environmental and socioeconomic systems; however, how a coupled socio-environmental system can be captured and quantified, and how this scientific evaluation is elicited and structured in policy making and implementation processes are still unclear. Here, we propose an integrated quantification framework and a revised policy-making procedure after examining the detailed planning for the groundwater pumping control policy as part of China's South-to-North Water Transfer Project and identifying the shortcomings of the policy. This quantification framework represents the iterative feedback loops between environmental and socioeconomic systems and provides both high-resolution and aggregated indications, that serve as instruments to evaluate the change in the water resource system and the rationality of water allocation plans through projections. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that integrated management needs the participation of scientists and the public, particularly in the discussion of formulating policy drafts among central and local stakeholders, which is helpful for sound decision making and coordination among science, policy making and practice. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Inadequacy of China's existing groundwater pumping control policy is identified and summarized. • Framework illuminates the feedback loops between socioeconomic and environmental systems. • Adaptive management needs an increase in scientists' participation for sound decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land remediation is an important part of restoration measures after a radioactive fallout containing long-lived fission products such as 137Cs. In this multidisciplinary study, we focused on three main issues related to remediation of contaminated urban areas. First, we assessed how much decontamination contributes to reducing resident radiation exposure and how much this reduction depends on the timing of implemented measures. Second, we calculated direct and indirect costs of decontamination in an industrialized country such as Sweden. Finally, in a survey study, we considered reactions of Swedish citizens to being given the hypothetical option of moving to a site decontaminated after radioactive fallout and how this predicted response might influence the design of contingency plans. The main findings are that clean-up operations must be done within the first few years after a fallout to contribute significantly to reducing residual dose. If conducted within 1–2 years, large-scale decontamination can, on average, avert 20–200 manSv per km2 residential area and unit ground deposition of 137Cs (1 MBq). The estimated direct costs (in 2020 purchasing power) would amount to 100 million Euro per km2 decontaminated residential area (comparable to Japanese estimates after the Fukushima accident), generating 39,000 m3 of radioactive waste on average, mainly in the form of 137Cs-contaminated topsoil. In our survey study of 2291 Swedish respondents about their willingness to return to decontaminated homes, women, families with resident children, and high-income earners exhibited more skepticism about returning, even if authorities were to deem it safe. The demographic pattern in attitudes was similar to that found among evacuees in the Fukushima prefecture after 2011. We conclude that predefined ranges of measured 137Cs ground deposition can be used as guidance for rescue leaders in the early post-accident phase in long-term planning for affected areas. This planning should include timing and intensity of decontamination measures, duration of evacuation, and risk communication to citizens. Because some citizens expressed both high risk perception and risk aversion, however, timely and dialogic communication is unlikely to limit a shift after the incident to an older and more male-dominated population composition. There is a risk that those who can afford to do so will move away, whereas people whose wealth is locked in property (houses or businesses) will feel stuck. Perceptions of unfairness may fray the social fabric and complicate resettlement, which in some cases may mean inefficient outlay of decontamination costs. We believe that the issue of monetary compensation to affected residents requires priority in future work. • Decontamination of urban areas can avert 20–200 manSv/km2 if done 1 y post-fallout. • The estimated direct cost of urban decontamination in Sweden is 100-million-EUR/km2. • Even after decontamination, most households prefer not to live in restored areas. • Hesitance to return reduces the net benefit of decontamination. • Individual compensation of evacuees could be key for cost-efficient restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desde el año 2005 se permite la creación de nuevas regiones a través de una ley de “Quórum orgánico constitucional”, así es como surge el interés de diversas zonas geográficas por convertirse en región, siendo los casos más emblemáticos los de Arica, Valdivia y Ñuble, donde sólo las dos primeras provincias lograron convertirse en región en el año 2007. El presente documento de investigación analiza efectos económicos y sociales del cambio de División Política Administrativa (DPA) en las nuevas regiones de Arica y Parinacota y Los Ríos, mediante un análisis estadístico-descriptivo e inferencial a variables relevantes de la Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica (CASEN) desde el año 2000 al 2013, evaluando el “antes y el después” del cambio administrativo. A pesar de que la provincia de Ñuble siempre ha tenido ingresos promedio menores en comparación a las dos nuevas regiones, es estadísticamente significativo el aumento de esta brecha entre los dos periodos de estudio (2000 al 2007 y 2007 al 2013). En el primer periodo la diferencia promedio corresponde a $47 510, la que luego prácticamente se duplica en el periodo en que se crean las dos nuevas regiones ($91 527). The subdivision of the country into new regions was enforced by the Chilean “Constitutional Organic Quorum” law, which was enacted in 2005. The enforcement of this law increased the interest of different geographic areas such as Arica, Valdivia and Ñuble to turn into regions. Nevertheless, only the first two provinces turned into regions in 2007. This paper analyses economic and social effects of the Political and Administrative Division (DPA) of the new regions of “Arica y Parinacota” (i.e., Arica) and “Los Ríos” (i.e., Valdivia). Specifically, we evaluate before-and-after effects of the administrative change by means of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of relevant variables of the Chilean Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (CASEN), during the period (2000-2013). Although Ñuble province has always had a lower average income in comparison with the two new regions, the gap among them increases significantly between the study periods (i.e., from 2000-2007 to 2007-2013). While in the first period the average difference reached $47 510, this figure is doubled ($91 527) after the creation of the new regions.

Increasingly, protected areas have been connected with the rest of the world through telecouplings (socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances) that are essential for their structures and functions. Unfortunately, many of the Earth's protected areas are located in regions with frequent natural disasters that can profoundly affect telecouplings. Although there have been many studies evaluating socioeconomic or ecological effects of natural disasters separately, systematic evaluations of socioeconomic and ecological effects of natural disasters by altering multiple telecouplings have remained rare. With long-term data collected in China's Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas (Wolong), we applied the telecoupling framework to assess the effects of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake on telecouplings that link Wolong with the rest of the world, as well as their subsequent effects on coupled human and natural systems in Wolong. Our results show that the earthquake altered all major components of multiple telecouplings and generated complex socioeconomic and ecological effects in Wolong. Based on these understood effects, we provide suggestions to enhance environmental sustainability and human well-being in Wolong and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an input–output model to quantify the socioeconomic impact of fishing and aquaculture on Galicia, one of Spain's most important maritime regions. Results indicate that the carryover effects of these production activities are important for Galicia's economy because they contribute not only to job creation but also to possibilities for obtaining income in other economic sectors. These sectors’ combined production in 2013 was almost a million euros, and that production was estimated to account for nearly 2% of the regional economy's value added and for more than 17,000 full-time jobs. Together these contributions amounted to some €1.7 billion in production and €975 million in value added to other Galician economic activities. At the same time, fishing and aquaculture were responsible for creating the equivalent of more than 14,000 full-time jobs in other economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low levels of plastics circularity today reflect major challenges for the sector to reduce environmental impacts and a need for wider systemic change. In this work, we investigated the potential for climate and socioeconomic benefits of circular economy (CE) interventions in the plastic packaging system. By means of a mixed-unit input-output (IO) model, we performed a comparative scenario analysis for the development of demand and waste management up to 2030 within the EU-28 (EU27 + United Kingdom). We modeled the development of material flows and assessed the effects of both demand-side and end-of-life interventions. Different levels of ambition toward 2030 based on EU circular economy strategies were tested. Results showed that on reaching high levels of circularity, between 14 and 22 Mt CO 2 -eq/year could be reduced by 2030 (20-30% of the total sector impact in 2018) compared to business-as-usual. Demand change (e.g., by decreasing product packaging intensities) showed similar emission-saving potential as achieving the current recycling target of 55%, which emphasizes the role of demand-side actions. Most scenarios displayed moderate employment gains and potential economic losses, pertaining to both direct and indirect activity shifts in the economy. While considering model limitations, the approach is useful in indicating potential first-order effects of system changes.

Evidence on the socioeconomic effects of the protected area status of affected regions is mixed. While some studies highlight positive outcomes for these regions, others point in the opposite direction. Consequently, this study aimed to add to the discourse on whether protected area status fosters the socioeconomic development of these regions or not. The study focuses on the agricultural sector in protected areas, because this sector is of particular importance for local communes in these regions. Our study aimed to investigate whether the status Swiss Park of National Importance (henceforth park) positively or negatively influenced economic indicators of local farms (i.e., direct payments, income, and revenues). Specifically, the study answers the following question: How would economic farm indicators have developed if the territory had not gained park status? Thus, the study compared the economic indicators of farms located in a park with economic indicators of farms from neighboring regions outside the park. The analyses focused on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch and the Nature Park Gantrisch as case study regions. The empirical findings revealed that gaining the park status had neither positive nor negative significant effects on income of farms inside a park compared to similar farms outside. However, results also showed that gaining the park status had positive rather than negative effects on further economic indicators such as direct payments and revenues. • We estimated the effects of protected area status on economic indicators of farms. • We compared farms located in a designated park with farms in neighboring regions. • Protected area status had no negative effect on economic indicators of farms inside park. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient heat exposure is a well-known health hazard, which reduces human performance and work capacity at heat levels already common in tropical and subtropical areas. Various health problems have been reported. Increasing heat exposure during the hottest seasons of each year is a key feature of global climate change. Heat exhaustion and reduced human performance are often overlooked in climate change health impact analysis. Later this century, many among the four billion people who live in hot areas worldwide will experience significantly reduced work capacity owing to climate change. In some areas, 30-40% of annual daylight hours will become too hot for work to be carried out. The social and economic impacts will be considerable, with global gross domestic product (GDP) losses greater than 20% by 2100. The analysis to date is piecemeal. More analysis of climate change-related occupational health impact assessments is greatly needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge on computer operations and accessibility to internet has become a basic necessity in the developed world. In contrast, population in most of developing countries exhibit high rate of computer illiteracy. Many demographic and socioeconomic indicators have direct impacts on computer illiteracy rates. In this research, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) liner regression was applied to model spatial variation of computer illiteracy in Al Riyadh Administrative Region (RAR), Saudi Arabia. Using data from 2004 Saudi census, different statistical variables were identified to describe demographic and socioeconomic variables such as population, unemployment and education qualifications. Population living circumstances particularly, housing types, access to portable water, electricity, and public sewage also have potential impact on computer knowledge. These variables are hypothesized to influence spatial variation of computer illiteracy rate in the study area. The power of explanatory variables of OLS model was 0.97% as a result of the relationships between computer illiteracy and underlying explanatory variables. The findings revealed that spatial variation of computer usage and ownership rate among Al Riyadh governorates have a strong relationship with set of socioeconomic, demographic, infrastructure variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study tests the assumptions that justified the establishment of the Brazilian Biodiesel Production Program (PNPB), to see whether this program has achieved its promised results. Given the connection between socioeconomic, political, technological and environmental issues, the study performs an analysis covering these different dimensions. From the socioeconomic standpoint, findings of the study show that the generation of jobs in the agricultural sector has been much lower than the expected 1.3-million-job creation figure. From the standpoint of reducing the outflow of foreign exchange because of potentially lower demand for imported diesel, the option for the methanol instead of ethanol production route has led to an increased net outflow, as the greater need to import methanol to produce biodiesel more than offsets the lesser need to import mineral diesel. Nevertheless, even though the “Promised Land” has not been reached, particularly from a socioeconomic standpoint, the premises of energy efficiency and the potential to mitigate GHG emissions appear to be on solid ground. In this respect, the input/output energy ratio of producing soy-based biodiesel and the GHG mitigation potential of pure biodiesel justify the continuing effort to improve the PNPB to achieve more promising results in relation to the other indicators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the most important theories on „brain drain" socio-economic effects both on sending and host countries. Therefore, all the main results of the analysis of three generations of Authors will be examined. So, this study will allow to understand which countries should have benefits from highly skilled migrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the socioeconomic and environmental impact of globalization on the transitional economies of Eastern and Central European countries. It examines the success and failures of business enterprises operating during the period of socioeconomic transition to identify dynamics of globalization in the region. It notes that countries in the area previously based their economic activities on central economic planning.

The end of apartheid in South Africa has led to political-economic transition, the deregulation of cities, and increased population mobility, with growing numbers of people living and working in sub-standard and 'informal' urban conditions. These processes have created a fertile terrain for the rapid spread of HIV, especially in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Few studies have considered how the HIV epidemic's outcomes are interacting with other societal processes, such as globalisation and urbanisation, or how these processes collectively converge with place-specific conditions to expose, drive and compound vulnerabilities to HIV and AIDS. This paper links an analysis of the political economy of South Africa's HIV epidemic with findings from an ethnographic case study with street traders in Warwick Junction, the largest trading hub in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the health crisis, it is vital to protect not only the critical sectors of the economy, the assets, technology, and infrastructure, but first and foremost, it is fundamental to protect jobs and workers. The current COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the labor market from three main perspectives: number of jobs (through unemployment and underemployment), quality of work (through wages, or access to social protection), and through the effects on specific groups, with a higher degree of vulnerability to unfavorable labor market outcomes. The measures aiming to reduce economic activity and social contacts lead to a reduction of labor demand and implicitly to the increase of the unemployment rate. In this context, it becomes even more relevant to be able to monitor the unemployment rate, providing relevant forecasts that include the effects of market shocks. Thus, our paper aims to forecast the unemployment rate for the period 2020–2023 using the Box-Jenkins methodology based on ARIMA models, exploring also the uncertainty based on fan charts. Although the baseline forecast offers valuable information, a good understanding of risks and uncertainties related to this forecast is equally important. The empirical results highlighted an ascending trend for unemployment rate during 2020, followed by a slow and continuous decrease until the end of 2023 with a high probability for the forecast to be above the central projection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Commission has introduced the instrument of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP) to better achieve energy and climate policy targets. In Germany, a comprehensive study was commissioned for this purpose. Its methods and main results are presented here. It starts with a set of energy system models that maps the necessary changes in the energy system, together with corresponding measures bottom-up. The results then enter the PANTA RHEI macroeconometric top-down model as scenario inputs to determine the socioeconomic effects. According to the bottom-up models, achieving the target of 55% GHG reduction by 2030 will not be easy. The macroeconomic effects are mostly positive. Driven by additional investment, GDP and the number of jobs will be higher than in the baseline. The construction and service sectors can benefit from energy and climate policy measures. The share of final consumer expenditures on energy in GDP declines by 2030 compared to today. However, the direction and magnitude of the effects are not undisputed in the literature. The results show that ambitious climate policies are possible in Germany, which can also improve the achievement of economic and social goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the time of globalization, the growing global food trade can have a major effect on every corner of the world. These include uncertain effects on the climate, use of land, socioeconomic concerns, and political and cultural conditions for exporting countries. In this study we performed a literature review to identify the evidence of the economic, environmental and [End Page 154] social effects as a result of recent avocado plantation expansions in the avocado-producing area of Michoacan, Mexico. Mexico is the largest avocado producer in the world and Michoacan represents more than 80 percent of the total planted area of the country. The results show a greater wealth for producers and a small group of packinghouses due to avocado industry. There are also environmental concerns due to rapid land-cover changes and the overuse of pesticides that secrete into soils and groundwater with cascading effects for local people. Our results highlight the economic, environmental and social effects of the avocado industry; however, many gaps remain in our understanding. In this study we identified gaps in the current research and present some directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Low back pain affects many individuals. It has profound effects on well-being and is often the cause of significant physical and psychological health impairments. Low back pain also affects work performance and social responsibilities, such as family life, and is increasingly a major factor in escalating health-care costs. A global review of the prevalence of low back pain in the adult general population has shown its point prevalence to be approximately 12%, with a one-month prevalence of 23%, a one-year prevalence of 38%, and a lifetime prevalence of approximately 40%. Furthermore, as the population ages over the coming decades, the number of individuals with low back pain is likely to increase substantially. This comprehensive review is undertaken to assess the increasing prevalence of low back pain and the influence of comorbid factors, along with escalating costs., Materials and Methods: A narrative review with literature assessment., Results: In the USA, low back pain and related costs are escalating. Based on the available literature, it appears that the prevalence of low back pain continues to increase, along with numerous modalities and their application in managing low back pain. Comorbid factors with psychological disorders and multiple medical problems, including obesity, smoking, lack of exercise, increasing age, and lifestyle factors, are considered as risk factors for low back pain., Conclusion: Although it has been alleged that low back pain resolves in approximately 80% to 90% of patients in about six weeks, irrespective of the administration or type of treatment, with only 5% to 10% of patients developing persistent back pain, this concept has been frequently questioned as the condition tends to relapse and most patients experience multiple episodes years after the initial attack., (© 2014 International Neuromodulation Society.)

Aim: To investigate the outcomes of early and delayed elective resection after initial antibiotic treatment in patients with complicated diverticulitis., Methods: The study, a non-randomized comparison of the two approaches, included 421 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for complicated sigmoid diverticulitis (Hinchey classification  I-II) at the Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf between 2004 and 2009. The operating procedure, duration of hospital and intensive care unit stay, outcome, complications and socioeconomic costs were analyzed, with comparison made between the early and delayed elective resection strategies., Results: The severity of the diverticulitis and American Society of Anesthesiologists score were comparable for the two groups. Patients who underwent delayed elective resection had a shorter hospital stay and operating time, and the rate of successfully completed laparoscopic resections was higher (80% vs 75%). Eight patients who were scheduled for delayed elective resection required urgent surgery because of complications of the diverticulitis, which resulted in a high rate of morbidity. Analysis of the socioeconomic effects showed that hospitalization costs were significantly higher for delayed elective resection compared with early elective resection (9296 € ± 694 € vs 8423 € ± 968 €; P = 0.001). Delayed elective resection showed a trend toward lower complications, and the operation appeared simpler to perform than early elective resection. Nevertheless, delayed elective resection carries a risk of complications occurring during the period of 6-8 wk that could necessitate an urgent resection with its consequent high morbidity, which counterbalanced many of the advantages., Conclusion: Overall, early elective resection for complicated, non-perforated diverticulitis is shown to be a suitable alternative to delayed elective resection after 6-8 wk, with additional beneficial socioeconomic effects.